


A Kind Of Love

by innertimetraveldetective



Series: City Of Stars [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adoption, Domestic, Gen, background skimmons, basically just philinda and their new kid over the first couple days of meeting, big sister pls, finding out stuff about her past, from the red room, getting the house ready, idk it's cute mostly, ive known sasha for 5 days and if anyone hurt her id kill everyone in this room and then myself, just read it, maria is an officially designated wine aunt, no beta we die like men, sasha finds out about daisy from looking in their heads and shes instantly like, she's telepathic, sorry for telling you what to do, they adopt a little widow, this is messy, we needed a beta tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:21:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29041542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innertimetraveldetective/pseuds/innertimetraveldetective
Summary: "We did good.  With Daisy, right?" May asked."Yeah.  I think we did good." He nodded, "We'll do good for her as well.  For Sasha.  Better." He decided, "We'll do it right this time, normal kid, normal childhood." May raised an eyebrow."She's a telepathic Russian assassin." May said dryly.“As normal a childhood as a telepathic Russian assassin can have." He amended.
Series: City Of Stars [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2026970
Comments: 22
Kudos: 15





	1. It's Time

**Author's Note:**

> Here, have this chaotic ass 12k mess that I wrote in 5 days because I got bored of What We Become :D
> 
> It takes place directly after chapter 62 of What We Become :)

“How are they?” May asked Hill anxiously as she joined her on the other side of the glass, watching as the girls sat impatiently.

“Deprogrammed yesterday, psych and combat evals now, then they’ll be your and Nat’s responsibility.” Maria told her. “Nat was here earlier. She had to leave for the deprogramming, probably beating up a punching bag somewhere.” May nodded.

“Any concerns?” May checked. Hill inhaled deeply.

“They’re all terrified. Need to get them through the system ASAP, settle them with families. You can talk to them later with Nat, some of them might not want to be separated, but we need to get them out of here.” 

“Nat said she’d find possible families, I think she’s looking for ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. mostly, she said she’d reach out to Melina, Alexei and Yelena, possibly some military as well. They’d have to relocate to Scotland for the girls’ schooling, but Nat can be persuasive.” May smirked slightly. 

“I’m aware.” Maria said dryly, “Only the ones who’ll be 11 or older by September will need to be enrolled immediately. I think that’ll leave about 8 others who’re still too young. The youngest looks about 5, maybe 6, the rest fall between there and 14.” She explained quickly as Nat came in, “Better?” Maria asked. Nat just scowled at her.

“I miss my bed.” She muttered. “Let me sleep.” May smiled slightly.

“They won’t be done here for a couple hours, I’ll come get you, or Phil will.” She assured her. Nat nodded.

“Spasiba.” She muttered as she slouched off to find a bunk, missing Clint and Bobbi and Ed. 

* * *

“Up.” May announced as she strode into Nat’s room, dodging the knife that she threw.

“Ukhodi.” Nat muttered, flashing May the bird. 

“The kids are all done, we gotta go meet them.” May said bluntly. Nat groaned to herself.

“Lina and Lexei said they can take however many.” Nat told her as she dragged herself out of bed, “Lena hasn’t replied.” 

“Lina, Lexei, Lena, who’re you?” May smirked slightly as Nat shot her a death glare.

“Lia, if you must know.” She rolled her eyes as she made her way towards the suite of rooms where the girls had been taken, tapping her ID against the scanner as she entered, “So, what’s the deal?” She asked May before they went in. May sighed,

“Twenty girls. One six year old, two seven, five nine, two ten, one eleven, three thirteen, six fourteen.” May ran through them quickly, “A couple have powers, only one is inhuman, the rest are enhanced. Most of them would pass the combat assessments that we give to get into The Academy, the others would be good enough to pass them at The Prep. All of them are multilingual, a couple have tried to kill most of us even after deprogramming, but most of them are just scared.” May told her.

“Okay, we’ll talk to them, see if they wanna be kept together, but it’s unlikely that they will be. I’ll get all the possible parents here for Friday, get them relocated to Scotland by next week.” Nat nodded, taking a deep breath before opening the door, twenty pairs of eyes instantly on her. They were in a small hall, empty other than a couple of chairs, most of the kids sprawled out on the floor. 

“You’re Natalia.” One said as she walked in. She looked older than the rest, more confident.

“Natasha. This is May.” She corrected, nodding to May.

“Not Natalia?” She asked again. Nat sighed.

“I changed it after I escaped.” She told them, silently begging them all not to push any further.

“Why?” Another one asked. She was sitting in a ball, curled up protectively, her eyes wide and scared. May watched Natasha curiously, feeling a pair of eyes set on her. 

“Because I didn’t want to be known as Natalia anymore, da?” Nat told them, slightly frustrated now.

“Can I change my name?” One of them challenged her.

“Yeah, if you want.” Nat shrugged.

“Can I?” Another echoed.

“You can all change your names, okay?” May decided as she sat down, nodding at Nat to follow her lead, _She’ll be scared, get down to her level._

“What’s your name?” A blue eyed girl asked.

“Tasha said it was May.” Someone else filled in.

  
  


“My first name is Melinda. Melinda Qialian May.” May told them all, her heart melting a little as some of them shuffled tentatively towards them.

“That’s Chinese.” A latina girl said matter of factly.

“Yas.” May agreed, “What about you? What’re your names?” May asked them all.

“I’m Kate.” The confident one said, May recognising her as a leader of sorts.

“Alex.”

“Sena.”

“Bee.”

“Elena.”

“Dae.” Six of them said at once. Nat grinned. They were nothing like other Red Room girls she’d known, they weren’t marble, or solid, they were young, children, easier to read. They’d only been there a year, and that was enough to break them, but something was _different_.

“Those are very nice names.” May smiled at them all, looking around at the other girls. Most of them still seemed closed off, but a few were looking on in curiosity.

“I like your name.” Dae said quietly, smiling shyly at her with soft brown eyes. She was Asian, May could tell that much, probably Korean. 

“I like yours too.” Nat nodded encouragingly as a pair of girls leaned in curiously. 

“What’re your names?” She asked them with a smile. They looked like twins, probably ten years old, matching green eyes. 

“I’m Scarlett.” One of them said, nudging her twin.

“I’m Ruby.” The other said slowly, shakily, looking at the floor as she spoke. Nat thought she could hear an English accent, but couldn’t be sure. 

“Those are very pretty names.” Nat smiled at them, nudging May slightly, sharing a little look. 

“I don’t like mine.” Scarlett admitted. 

“You can change it.” Bee told her from across the room, brown hands fiddling nervously in her lap. 

“What should I change it to?” Scarlett asked Nat. 

“Maybe you should ask our new family.” Ruby told her quietly. Scarlett shrugged.

“Will we stay together?” She asked Nat nervously. Nat looked to May.

“That’s actually what we wanted to talk to you all about.” May said gently, “We have meetings over the next few days with possible families for you all, we need to know if any of you need to stay together. A lot of you will see each other at school anyway, and you’ll all live in a similar place, but we need to know if you want to stay together so we can vouch for you, do you all understand?” May said slowly, looking at them all in turn.

“I want to stay with Ruby.” Scarlett said instantly. May nodded, pulling out her phone to take notes.

“That’s okay.” May smiled, looking around at the rest of them. Nat frowned a little as no one talked. 

“Hey, kids, do you want us to give you a form or something?” Nat asked suddenly, thinking about how she was when she first got out. Admittedly, she was there for 19 years and had no memories of the outside world, but she imagined it’d feel the same. At first she couldn’t choose anything. She’d be stuck overthinking every decision, unable to get past the mental block that seemed to form. She couldn’t decide what to eat for breakfast, couldn’t decide when to get up, couldn’t decide how she wanted to spar. It was Clint who noticed, eventually he started giving her limited options for everything, building back up. Of course, she hated the babying at the time but she was grateful for it now.

No one said anything, so she decided to do it anyway.

“Okay, how about this. I’ll come back later with a form for all of you so you can decide if you want to stay alone or be with someone, we’ll say a maximum of three of you in one place.” Nat said as she got up, texting Maria and leaving May alone.

“How come it’s you?” Kate asked, crossing her arms. 

“Full story?” May asked. 

“Go on.” Bee nodded. 

“It was my husband.” May smiled, “After we all got back from Russia we were worried about where you’d end up, so he talked to Hill, managed to get me as the agent overseeing your care and placement. My daughter’s powered and she grew up at The Prep, so I know how it works, and Nat’s on the case because she’s one of you.” May explained.

“You have a daughter?” One of them asked from the far corner. May nodded.

“Her name is Daisy.” 

“Quake.” The same girl said instantly. May’s smile stiffened. 

“That’s what some people call her. How do you know?” She asked tightly. The girl next to her nudged her anxiously, shaking her head. 

“Ona ne mozhet znat', on rasserditsya” (She can’t know, he’ll be angry.) She whispered desperately, her eyes terrified. 

“He’s dead.” May said bluntly. They all looked up at that. 

“He’s…” Kate started, looking around at them all. Some looked angry, some looked devastated, others looked beyond relieved, “Who-?” She asked, not finishing the sentence.

“Nat and another one of you. Her name is Ava.” May told them all, trying to watch them all at once. 

“Yego alyy.” Ruby whispered fearfully, “He tried to make me like her.” She told May, “He tried to make Charlie like Daisy.” She whispered, everyone looking at her in disappointment. 

“What do you mean?” May asked her gently. Kate sighed, taking over.

“He had his favourites. Well, I say favourites. He had aspirations for some of them, he wanted Charlie to be like Daisy, wanted Ruby to be like Ava, wanted Lissa to be like Nat.” She told her, ignoring indignant glares. “He’d experiment on them the most.” She told May, looking down as she saw the anger in her eyes, “I’m sorry, it doesn’t matter, we can go back if-” May stopped her.

“I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at him.” She told her calmly. “No one is going to send you back, okay? Any of you, you’re safe now.” May promised them, the nagging feeling of someone watching her gnawing at her. 

“Can I stay with Charlie?” A new voice spoke up, May placing her accent as Spanish. 

“Of course, if Charlie wants that?” May asked her. She nodded, looking up with wide eyes. 

“What’s your name, kid?” May asked her gently.

“I’m Maya.” She told her nervously. 

“Maya and Charlie together, got it. Ruby and Scarlett together, anyone else?” She looked around. Bee looked at Kate hesitantly.

“Can we stay together? Me and Bee?” Kate asked. 

“Of course.” May nodded, writing it down on her phone. 

“I want to be alone.” Dae asked, her gaze fixed on the floor. 

“That’s okay too, I’ll see what I can do.” May assured her, her heart singing at how quickly they seemed to be warming up. There were about 8 who still hadn’t said anything, they looked a lot younger than the rest though, so it was understandable. 

"Hey." Nat greeted them all as she slipped back into the room, forms in hand.

"Romanov." May nodded as she entered. 

"Okay, I got forms for you all, figured Russian was the best option, but I printed out a couple English and Spanish in case any of you want that. You'll get three slots, so you can each choose three people in order of who you want to be with the most to the least, you got that?" Nat asked, heading out pens and paper. The girls all got to work, May watching them in silent wonder. 

"Hey, Mel?” Nat whispered.

"Tasha." May replied, not even addressing the nickname.

"Do you feel like someone's watching us?" She asked quietly, looking around the room. 

"Since I came in. Did you read their psych evals and combat assessments?" May asked quietly.

"We'll go through them later. They're staying in B-Tango, only place with enough spare bunks and a common room and a gym." Nat told her. 

"Most of them are talking more, a couple already said they want to be together. They seemed interested in the kids." May frowned.

"Your kids?" May rolled her eyes.

"If by ‘my kids’ you mean Daisy and her friends, then yeah. If by my kids you meant my S.T.R.I.K.E team, then no." Nat nodded.

"They will be curious. When they meet kids at school it should be easier, the older ones will have memories from before as well." Nat pointed out.

"Most of them are old enough for The Prep, or will be in September, the younger ones will train with me. Any progress on families?" May checked.

"Tori and Izzie are still a no, Clint and Laura are considering it, but I don't think Laura wants to leave the farm. Tony and Pepper are a no, Steve and Bucky said okay though." Nat smiled at the thought of them and their soon to be daughter(s), "Bill and Lizzie Carter said yas, they're on their way up now, the Thompsons are a yas, I sent a QJ for them, Melina and Alexei are still good, and I haven't heard from the rest." Nat finished.

"Super, thanks." May started to say something else when she felt a tugging on her sleeve. She looked down to see who she assumed to be the youngest of the bunch; a tiny black girl who hadn't said a word the entire time.

"Hey," May said softly, her motherly instinct kicking in.

"I-I'm f-finished." The girl stuttered, still clinging to May's sleeve. May crouched down to her level, Nat watching in mild amusement.

"That was very quick." May pointed out, almost a question. The girl nodded, 

"It w-was easy." She said slightly shyly. May raised an eyebrow.

"It was, huh?" The girl nodded.

"The others d-don't like m-me much." She admitted quietly, her hands fiddling with May’s sleeve, "They th-think I'm w-weird." She told her. May frowned.

"Why do you think that?" She asked her softly. The girl shrugged. 

"I am." She told her. 

"I don't think you're weird. What's your name?" May asked her gently, talking slowly.

"A-aleksandra." She didn't seem impressed, "Sasha." She amended.

"Okay, Sasha. I don't think you're weird at all." May assured her sincerely. Sasha nodded shyly, twisting May's sleeve around in her hand. 

"I know." Sasha bit her lip nervously. 

"Really? How's that?" 

"Telepath." A rough voice said from behind her, Sasha visibly flinching as Kate towered over them, "She's been reading your thoughts since you got here, it's why you and Tasha thought someone was watching you." She told her, holding out a piece of paper expectantly. Sasha whimpered slightly, letting go of May's sleeve and hunching her shoulders defensively.

"Okay." May said simply, trying to hide her mixture of fear and surprised, feeling Sasha recoil against it next to her. She took Kate's form, nodding her away as she sat down next to Sasha.

"You're n-not angry." Sasha stated. 

"Should I be?" May asked tentatively.

"He would b-be." May nodded.

"I know. But I'm not him, okay?" 

"You're different. H-He was angry, you're not. You l-love Daisy and th- ph, Ph-Phil, and you're w- you're worried about us. You're h-happy because the others a-a - the others are opening up, a-and you think th-that Bobbi and Hunter would've been a perfect fit for o-one of u-us and that- and that makes you sad." Sasha recited softly, closing her eyes as she searched through May's thoughts. 

"How do you know about them?" May asked her, hoping she recognized her fear as awe rather than anger.

"You thought a-about them when y-you talked to Charlie, and the t-twins b-because Bobbi's eyes are g-green and Hun- and Hunter was English." Sasha said simply. May looked at her in awe. 

"That's why you think the others think you're weird." She tutted, nodding as it clicked into place. She didn't _think_ they thought she was weird, she _knew_ they thought she was weird.

"I'm s-sorry about Hunter." Sasha said shyly, ignoring her previous question. May nodded. 

"Thank you." Sasha nodded, dark brown eyes meeting May's.

"Daisy wouldn't like me." She said slightly sadly. May shook her head.

"Daisy would love you." She assured her, offering her hand as she stood up again. Sasha took it, following her obediently towards where everyone else was chattering.

"We'll take you all over to where you're staying for the next few days, if that's okay?" Nat asked, most of them knowing it wasn't really a question. The little widows all stood up, following Nat like little ducklings, May and Sasha at the back to keep them all together. 

"Are you inhuman?" May asked Sasha as they walked. Sasha frowned.

"You k-know I am. T-Tasha read it in my file." She looked at the ground as they walked, not stepping on cracks in the pavement. 

"I knew one of you was." May admitted, "Only Nat knew it was you, I assume." She shrugged. 

"The others d-don't like it w-when I tell other people what I- what I hear." Sasha said tightly. May looked down at her, hardly believing she was only 6. When Daisy was 6 she was crawling around in blanket forts and giggling with Maria in mission control. Sasha smiled slightly as May thought of that. 

"They don't like it because to them thoughts are private." May told her. 

"I know. Sometimes I forget n-not everyone- not everyone can know th-them." She said simply, still seeing 6 year old Daisy giggling with Maria. 

"What're you smiling at?" Another girl asked in a light Russian accent as she slowed down next to them. Sasha's face fell, a look of shame spreading across it.

"D-Daisy." She looked at the ground. The other girl looked expectantly up at May, who just shrugged.

"It's a happy memory." She just said. The Russian girl nodded, getting back to her conversation.

"Not all your memories are happy." Sasha said quietly. 

"Neither are yours." May replied. Sasha didn't say anything to that, just walking in silence as she gripped May's hand, her eyes still fixed on the floor.

They arrived at the block where the girls were staying a few minutes later, Phil waiting for them at the door. 

"Romanov." He nodded to Nat, opening the door for them before following May and Sasha through at the end.

"You're Phil." Sasha looked up to him through thick eyelashes. Phil laughed slightly.

"I am. What's your name?" He asked. 

"I'm S-Sasha." She seemed more comfortable around him than May was expecting. Then again, she supposed she'd already seen him in his pajamas playing with a 6 year old Daisy.

"Nice to meet you." He smiled down at her, before looking up to May in question. 

"We'll talk." She said simply, knowing there was no point in mouthing it. He nodded, following them both down the corridor of bunks to the common room where Nat already had most of them on the sofas. She smirked slightly as they trouped in, but said nothing, getting on with running the kids through the plan for the next few days.

They wouldn't be hanging around for too long, they'd meet their possible parents on Friday, then they'd all be in Scotland by next week. For the next few days Nat and May would take care of them all, train with them, cook for them, basically make sure they didn't die or kill each other until they could be moved into permanent placement. Nat was only going to Scotland for a week before going back to The Academy, Sasha smiling to herself as Nat's thoughts wandered to Bobbi. She was getting more curious about the Morse sisters. 

From what she'd gathered already, Bobbi and Hunter were married, but he'd died recently, probably in the last week, maybe when the widows were rescued from Ivan. Bobbi had a little sister called Ed, Nat missed her like she missed Daisy. They were at The Academy that Nat and May seemed to keep thinking about. 

She couldn't quite tell how Nat loved Bobbi, but it was definitely love, she thought as she picked her brain, finding guilt and longing and confusion and promptly closing that door. 

"Stop it, Aleksandra." Kate scolded, tapping her lightly. Sasha sighed, looking up at her.

"S-sorry." She muttered, looking down again. She felt May squeeze her hand, and some anger from Phil. She looked up at him in fear, but he seemed okay. He didn't seem like a very angry person.

Nat finished debriefing them before showing them all to their rooms, meeting Phil and May in the common area after.

"What's the deal with the baby?" Nat asked May as she sat next to her.

"Telepath." May told her. Phil sighed. That made sense. 

"So when she told her to stop-?" Phil asked.

"She was probably listening to someone." May guessed. Nat nodded.

"Hill's gonna ask you two to take a kid." She said suddenly, just remembering.

"Hill's gonna what?" They said simultaneously. Nat rolled her eyes.

"It makes _sense_. You're moving to Scotland to oversee their training anyway, you're already parents and she trusts you." Nat pointed out. Phil sighed.

"We've already done that." He said, "Daisy's grown up, we've done our job. We're hardly getting any younger." He said half to himself.

"Sasha." May just said softly, thinking about the tiny girl. Nat grinned.

"Melinda." Phil said flatly.

"She's a _sweetheart_ , Phil." May insisted. 

"She's a whole ass child!" Phil protested.

"We'll be in Scotland for ages anyway." May pointed out.

"Daisy would love her." Nat contributed, "She'd have like a million aunts and uncles." Phil sighed,

"Maybe. Only her though." May nodded.

"Only her." She agreed, "Besides, maybe it's time to step back a little." May pointed out, "We really aren't getting any younger." Phil sighed.

"Melinda May, a teacher. Never thought I'd see that." Nat raised an eyebrow, "You'll be great." She decided. "I'll come down when I can, see the girls, bring Ava if she wants." Nat decided. 

"I'd have to leave E.C.H.O." May said sadly. 

"Maybe it's time for the next generation to move in. Morse and Daisy are joining, leave the shots up to Trip or Yo-yo." Phil suggested. 

"Clint is staying at The Academy. He's not moving on with D.E.L.T.A.." Nat told Phil. He nodded.

"I know. It'll be you and Orlova, correct?" He checked.

"Until it's time." Nat nodded. 

"You're 30." May said bluntly. 

"Leaving D.E.L.T.A. doesn't mean leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., or the field." Nat just said, shrugging slightly.

"It's strange, watching them." May said after a moment.

"It's time." Phil decided. 

"I know." May agreed, "Doesn't make it feel any less weird." She shook herself out of the train of thought, fixating back on the girls, “So, their psych evals?” She asked. Nat nodded, 

“It’s really too soon to tell, so they’ll be reassessed soon. So far they think that they’re hesitant to trust us, which is understandable, obviously we’ll get them all in therapy, some might need to be assessed for neurodivergence but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Nat told them smoothly. May nodded.

“Combat?” She checked.

“They’re all young, they weren’t there for very long, but they still surpass at least kids graduating The Prep, some are Academy level. Sasha is Inhuman, then there’s Charlotte, Ruby and Melissa.” May nodded.

“They said he wanted them to be like Daisy, Orlova, and you?” Nat nodded.

“Charlotte can sense vibrations, but we got her before they could make it so she could control them. Ruby is like Ava, the sabres and everything, Melissa is like me, the same strength, endurance, and they sterilized her and Ruby.” Nat looked down as she said the last part, already anticipating the pitying tuts, the sorrow in their eyes. 

“What about Sasha?” May asked, knowing Nat wouldn’t want to talk about them anymore.

“Inhuman, telepath. Very little control over her powers, can’t turn them off or stop listening, but can amplify them as she pleases. Trained the same as the rest of them in combat, advantaged because of her powers.” Nat summarised. 

“Okay.” Phil nodded, “How many of them want to be together?” He asked Nat, who just shrugged.

“That will require spreadsheets. Math isn’t my forte.” She scrunched her nose.

“I’ll sort through them with Maria tonight.” Phil nodded, “Hey, isn’t us adopting Sasha a conflict of interest?” He asked, halfway hopeful.

“No.” May and Nat both said simultaneously. 

“You’ll love her. And so will Daisy. And Jemma.” May decided. Phil nodded wearily.

“We both have a lot of not too pleasant things in our heads.” He pointed out.

“So does she. You’ll be fine.” Nat brushed him off. 

“She needs us, Phil.” May nudged him softly, “If it was Daisy what would you do?” He nodded.

“I know. It’s a big thing though.” He said. 

“It is.” May agreed, “We probably should _ask_ Daisy before we get her a sister.” May pointed out.

“Yeah. Probably.” Phil nodded. He sighed, getting up from the sofa, “I’ll go see Maria about those spreadsheets, Nat, could you text or something when you get word on the rest of the families?” Nat nodded,

“I need to chase a few more, I’ll tell you when they’re confirmed.” She said with a slight smile.

“Thanks.” He said as he left, Nat instantly looking to May.

“She’s a sweetheart?” Nat smirked. 

“She is!” May protested.

“She’s cute.” Nat nodded, “But it’ll be a lot. You won’t be in the field.” She reminded her. May inhaled deeply.

“It’s time.” She decided. 

“Okay. Sad to lose you.” May scoffed.

“I’m not _dying_.” 

“No more missions, no more late nights at The Hub, just living that domestic dream.” Nat sighed. May frowned.

“If by domestic dream you mean taking over the responsibility for training 20 Russian assassins then sure, the absolute dream.” May said dryly.

“As domestic as you’ll get, then. What’ll Phil do?” She asked. 

“Maybe he’ll teach, maybe he’ll run missions from our living room, we’ll figure it out.” May said, smirking slightly at the thought of him sitting on their sofa in his pajamas directing a mission in Cambodia or something. 

“I’ll miss you both.” Nat said slightly.

“We’ll miss you.” May nodded, “But as he said, it’s time.” 


	2. New Adventures

Things stopped running so smoothly the next morning. They’d all had breakfast, everyone wearing the same S.H.I.E.L.D. tracksuit to breakfast. May and Nat got to know the girls better, figuring out that Kate, Bee, Elena, Dae, Sena and Alex were the oldest, all of them 14. Scarlett and Ruby were in fact twins, and definitely English. 

It was the older ones who started the fight. Nat had to tear them apart as they went at each other’s throats over the last piece of bread, the younger ones all shaking in fear as they watched, expecting someone to die, or get dragged away, or for Nat to finish it for them. She didn’t, of course, she broke the fight up and left the peacemaking up to May. 

Neither of them had really considered the daily fights over food that occurred in the Red Room, the ones that were encouraged. 

Nat watched her calm them all down in a blind panic, nausea heaving in her stomach at the memories. Apparently she should’ve been thinking quieter. 

“T-Tasha.” A tiny voice whispered next to her, a dark brown hand covering her own.

“Hey there.” Nat tried to smile but her mouth didn’t comply. 

“You k-killed him.” Sasha reminded her, “Spasiba.” She nodded solemnly. Nat sighed shakily.

“Yeah, ditya. I did.” Nat nodded, letting Sasha hold her thumb as they watched May calm everyone else down. She looked down at her in wonder, the child only coming up to her waist. She didn’t look 6 at all, to a passerby she probably looked about 4, but her eyes were wise, sincere, deep, almost tortured as Nat’s had been, but with a softness around the edge. 

“It w-wa” Sasha tried to say, tripping over her words a little before trying again, “It wasn’t your fault.” She told her, looking up at her, “Hunter.” She finished. Nat’s gut twisted a little. 

“Thank you, malysh.” Nat crouched down next to her, “Hey, how do your powers work?” She asked quietly. Sasha shrugged.

“I don’t remember.” She frowned. “They j-just do.” Nat nodded. _That was helpful._ “Sorry.” Sasha said guiltily.

“It’s okay, ditya, we’ll find out.” Nat assured her, her mind instantly jumping to Jemma and Daisy. Sasha frowned.

“Jemma.” She sounded the word out, images of a smiling brunette colliding with scenes of torture and tears, gunshots and blood. “Jemma.” She whispered, looking up at Nat in fear.

“What about her?” Nat asked, crossing her legs.

“I-Is she okay?” Sasha whispered darkly. Nat closed her eyes.

“You weren’t supposed to see that. She’s fine now, she’s with Daisy.” Nat assured her. Tears brimmed in Sasha’s eyes as she heard Jemma screaming again, as Ivan’s rough voice filled both of their minds. Nat brushed her thumb over Sasha’s, “Hey, it’s okay.” She said gently, her heart breaking as Sasha choked out a whimper, her head bowing as tears gathered in her eyes. Nat thought about Bobbi instead, trying to guide both of their minds to something happier, to coffee dates with Clint and Hunter, or New Year’s Eve with her and the kids. Sasha smiled a little when she saw Bobbi and Ed hugging, looking up at Nat.

“You love her.” She said simply. Nat froze, unsure what to say to that, “She loves you too.” She said simply. 

“Okay.” Nat nodded, figuring she meant the love that she saw with Bobbi and Ed, or her and Daisy. Sasha shrugged as Nat thought of that.

“I don’t kn-know what ki- what kind of love. I’m six.” Nat beamed at her.

“Well, I think you’re a very clever six year old.” Nat smiled, wiping a remaining tear off her cheek. Sasha smiled slightly at the praise, leaning into her hand. May looked over at them, Sasha looking up when she heard her call her name experimentally, seeing if she’d pick up on it.

“May wants us.” She said simply, wandering over to the rest of the group. Nat shook her head fondly as she followed, raising an eyebrow at May as a 6 year old led her determinedly through the rest of them. May nodded at them, before getting on with the day’s itinerary. 

* * *

“Can we trust them?” Scarlett asked Sasha as May and Nat left them alone. Sasha nodded.

“M-May thinks of us li-like she th-thinks of D-Daisy almost. T-Tasha wants t-to pr-pro, she wants to pr-protect us.” Sasha told her. 

“Tell me about Daisy.” Ruby asked, nudging her slightly. 

“Th-they both lo-love her. Sh-she ha-has a girlfriend called J-Jemma-a-and her p-powers work d-differently to Charlie’s.” Sasha said lightly. Ruby gasped.

“She has a _girlfriend_.” She wrinkled her nose. Sasha frowned slightly. 

“I think so. She- She’s English l-like you. _He_ tortured h-her.” Sasha told them, making their eyes widen.

“Is she like us?” Scarlett gasped. Sasha shrugged.

“I don’t kn-know. I don’t th-think so. She seemed sc-scien- She seemed scien- science- '' Sasha gestured at them to help her.

“Scientist?” Ruby offered, but Sasha shook her head, “Sciencey?” Sasha nodded.

“Sci-en-cy.” She sounded out slowly. 

“That’s the one.” Ruby nodded. Sasha smiled slightly.

“Are they gonna let us stay together?” Scarlett asked her. 

“Th-they want t-to. Y-you’ll be f-fine.” Sasha assured her. 

Kate watched the three little ones anxiously. They were the youngest of all of them, but they were the three who he picked on most. She’d become familiar with their sobs, with their terrified silences, with the way they froze, with what got them beaten, or worse. She was protective over Sasha’s powers because she’d seen what had happened when she’d looked too closely before. She saw how May and Nat looked at her, she didn’t mind. She knew what would happen when Sasha found out something she shouldn’t have, she knew she’d be the one to pick up the pieces afterwards. 

“Worried?” Dae asked lightly as she came up behind Kate.

“Not yet.” Kate said lightly, “May seems okay, if Sasha ends up with her and what’s his face maybe she’ll be fine.” She mused. Dae nodded.

“We’ll see.”

“That we will.”

* * *

"Daisy." May said as she picked up the phone 

"Is something wrong? What happened, I saw you like 2 days ago?" Daisy asked in a panic. 

"Everything's fine, we just wanted to run something by you." Coulson said smoothly. 

"Let me guess, you're adopting a widow because 'she's a sweetheart'?" Daisy asked dryly. May choked.

"Nat told you?" She asked. Daisy wrinkled her nose.

"No, you're just super predictable. Hey, does this mean I get to head up E.C.H.O.?" May could've sworn she heard someone yell 'over my dead body!', but couldn't be sure.

"Mack would be the obvious choice, but he's transferring. Leadership will be left to Trip or Rodriguez." May sighed. 

"Fine. So, when do we get to meet her?" Daisy asked excitedly.

"We?" 

"Me and Jemma." Daisy said as though it were obvious.

"Right. A couple months? We need to relocate to Scotland, you guys can come down after graduation for a week or something." May figured, looking to Phil who gave Daisy a thumbs up. 

"Is she powered?" Daisy asked.

"Telepath." Jemma perked up next to Daisy, her face swimming into view.

"Is it a neuro-electric interface thing or more of a neural pathway thing?" May smiled at her, glad to see she was talking more.

"I don't know what any of those words mean." Phil just said, shrugging to May.

"You can ask her when you meet her." May decided. Jemma nodded, backing away from the camera.

"So you're okay with this?" May asked Daisy.

"100%." Daisy nodded confidently.

"Great, thanks Dais." Coulson beamed before hanging up, sighing. 

"I'll tell Maria." He said, holding his hands up in surprise. 

"We're gonna have another kid." May gasped, tearing up a little.

"Yeah. I guess we are." Phil grinned, wrapping an arm around her. She leaned into his side, kissing his cheek roughly, smiling into him as he caught her lips against his.

"We did good. With Daisy, right?" May asked as she pulled away.

"Yeah. I think we did good." He nodded, "We'll do good for her as well. For Sasha. Better." He decided, "We'll do it right this time, normal kid, normal childhood." May raised an eyebrow.

"She's a telepathic Russian assassin." May said dryly.

As normal a childhood as a telepathic Russian assassin can have." He amended, "Family holidays, breakfasts together, cinema trips. All the stuff we missed with Daisy." He smiled slightly, closing his eyes.

"She's all grown up, Phil." May said softly. 

“She's pretty amazing.” He sighed.

"She really is." May agreed, leaning her head on his shoulder, "Sasha's scared she won't like her." She told him. 

"The telepath thing might scare her." He reasoned, "She probably has some well over PG-13 stuff in her head." He pointed out. 

"Right, because our heads are so innocent." May said sarcastically. "What will she think about Bahrain?" May asked after a beat. Phil inhaled deeply.

"We'll explain it to her if we need to. If she can see in your head she might already know." He told her gently. May nodded against him.

"Daisy doesn't know." She admitted. "Never told her, not properly."

"Not after Hydra?" He frowned. May shook her head. "Maybe get round to that before Sasha does?" He suggested.

"I will. She'll be okay with it?" 

"She'll understand. After what she's done, she'll understand." He assured her.

"Sasha will have baggage." She said mildly. He hummed in agreement.

"We'll deal. We always will." May nodded, kissing him again.

And he was right. Sasha did have baggage, in fact, it reared its ugly head as they sat opposite Maria Hill in an interview room, Sasha in between them both.

"These will make it official." Maria said as she slid wads of paper across the table to them, trying to keep everything professional. 

"You're h-happy." Sasha looked up from where she'd been playing with May's thumb. 

"I am." Maria agreed.

"Why?" Sasha frowned.

"I'm friends with May and Coulson. It's nice seeing their family grow." Sasha gulped, looking up to May.

"I h-had a f-family." She said innocently. May nodded.

"Do you want to talk about them?" She asked calmly. Sasha shook her head sadly. 

"YA pomnyu svoyego brata. On pytalsya zashchitit' menya, no madam vse ravno menya zabrala.” ( I remember my brother. He tried to protect me, but Madame took me anyway.) She said quietly, letting go of May's thumb. She started to panic as she felt all the adults grow angry, looking between all three of them in fear. 

"We're not angry at you." May reminded her. Sasha nodded tightly. 

"Don't b-be angry at m-my br- at my brother." She asked, "He t-tried." May nodded.

"We're not angry at him either. We're angry at the people who took you." Sasha looked up at her in confusion.

"Dead." She shrugged.

"It doesn't make it okay." Phil reinforced softly. Sasha didn’t say anything to that, just fixed her gaze back in her lap, wishing she couldn’t hear what everyone was thinking, the scattered way Maria thought, the way May’s flowed like a river, the way Coulson’s were solid, steady. It was _exhausting._

Natasha’s thoughts were jagged, like knives, impossible to ignore and in a multitude of languages. Kate yelled her thoughts, loud and clear, they were purposeful, determined. Ruby’s thoughts were softer, lighter, gentle, un-aggressive. Dae’s thoughts were blue, silky and deep.

And _him_. He thought like a snake. He thought about pain unimaginable and it bought him glee, his thoughts were twisted, slimy, writhing, his thoughts were impossible to escape.

“Phil, you’ll be stationed at The Prep too.” Maria told him as she shuffled through the paperwork. Phil raised his eyebrows.

“Not… teaching.” He said nervously.

“No. Just running missions from there, maybe giving a couple lectures, whatever.” Maria shrugged. Sasha smirked slightly as he cursed in his head, making Maria raise an eyebrow.

“What’s he thinking?” Maria asked her in a fake whisper. Sasha grinned.

“Bad w-word.” She smiled, making Maria gasp as though it was a crime.

“A bad word, huh?” May looked over at Phil, who put his hands up in surrender.

“I didn’t say anything!” He exclaimed. “It’s not my fault my thoughts aren't PG.” He rolled his eyes as all three of them looked at him blankly. 

“May’s aren’t ei-eith-either.” Sasha giggled, looking up at her. Maria shook her head, exchanging a look with Sasha.

“These guys.” She sighed, looking between the two who looked utterly mortified. 

“You swear more than I do!” Phil scoffed. Maria looked at Sasha, who pulled a face.

“She doesn’t in h-her _head_.” Sasha said, feeling light as all the adults seemed to fill with yellow, they were bright as they spoke to her, she liked it.

“And Mel does?” Phil smirked, looking up at May. Sasha nodded sincerely.

“You th-thin-think a lot of th-things.” Sasha said pompously, making Maria burst out laughing. May glared at her, before softening as she looked down at Sasha again, feeling the child beam as she got used to the brightness from everyone. “You all th-think i-in yellow.” Sasha decided. 

“Yeah? What colour do you think in?” Maria asked her, abandoning her paperwork. Sasha scrunched up her nose, hearing May all but melt at the facial expression.

“When it's j-just me I th-think in pink.” She told them, thinking carefully, liking how they paid attention to what she was saying, “I used to th-think in g-grey.” She continued, “With th-the oth-oth, with the others I th-think in white.” She finished, looking up at them all.

“What’s your _favourite_?” Phil asked her. Sasha thought for a second.

“Blue. Or yellow.” She decided, “I li- I like it when p-people are mixtures.” She added on a second thought.

“Who’s a mixture?” Phil asked her. 

“M-most people. T-Tasha’s a m-mix of purple and red. May’s yellow a-and green, Masha’s usually red.” She said simply, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Masha?” Phil frowned. All three of them sighed.

“Learn Russian.” May just poked him.

“Ochen' glupyy.” Maria sighed.

“Mne 6 let i ya znayu russkiy yazyk.” (I’m six and I know Russian.) Sasha said primly. May laughed.

“Phil raised Daisy and has lived with me for over 20 years and _still_ only speaks English and Spanish.” She teased, smiling over at him. 

“D-Daisy speaks Russian?” Sasha asked, lighting up as everyone else seemed to when they mentioned Daisy.

“Daisy speaks a lot of languages.” Maria nodded.

“More th-than me?” Sasha pushed. 

“Well how many do you speak?” May asked. Sasha frowned. 

“I don’t know. At l-least 6.” She decided. 

“Almost as many as her. She is 15 years older than you.” May pointed out. Sasha shrugged.

“I think your powers are cooler.” Maria whispered, making her smile shyly. 

“Really?” She asked, her eyes wide.

“Really.” Maria nodded, “And I bet Daisy will think so too.” Maria smiled as Sasha gasped. She’d never even met Daisy.

“I’ve s-seen her in y- your heads.” She just said as Maria thought that, “L-Like B-Bob- Bobbi, and Ed, and H-Hand, and Izzie.” She continued. Maria raised an eyebrow.

“What am I thinking about?” She challenged. 

“You like me.” Sasha said instantly, before gaping at the words that just came out of her mouth. “You l-like me?” She asked, turning to May as she felt the overwhelming urge to hug herself. 

“Yeah, kid.” Maria nodded, sharing a look with Coulson.

“You do too.” She stated, not having to look inside her head for that one, “And you.” She looked around to Coulson. 

“Of course we do.” May told her gently. Sasha warmed up as she felt them all love her, fidgeting slightly before leaning into May, letting her wrap an arm around her. “Is that okay?” May asked her.

“It’s good.” Sasha nodded into her side.

* * *

"I p-prefer Sasha May-Coulson." Sasha looked up as she either heard or _heard_ someone either think or say it. Coulson looked over at her. Everyone else was with their new families, Sasha had tagged along with May and Coulson to sort out the rest of the paperwork, contacting The Prep, sorting out housing for everyone.

"What's your middle name?" He asked her, realizing he had no idea. Sasha frowned. 

"Alina? I th-think? Katina?" She scrunched her face up, "Aleksandra Katina May-Coulson." She said fluently. He nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Aleksandra Katina May-Coulson." He smiled, stretching out a hand. She shook it, nodding seriously. 

"Nice to meet you, Philip J Coulson." She imitated his tone. May and Maria watched the pair, Hill nudging May as she saw her soften.

"Cute kid." She nodded approvingly. 

"Aleksandra Katina May-Coulson." May said softly, "Hey, should we have hyphenated Daisy's name?" She asked her. Maria pulled a face.

"That kid is 100% you. Daisy May." Maria said slowly, "Suits her. The Cavalry, Quake, whatever. She's Daisy May, Daisy May-Coulson sounds wrong." She decided. May sighed.

"Daisy Coulson-May?" She offered, but Maria just pulled a face.

"Aleksandra Katina May-Coulson. Maybe Dee'll be jealous, her little sister has twice the number of names that she has." Maria smirked. 

"They'll be chaos." May groaned. 

"I'll be an enabler." Maria nodded seriously, "I'll beat Hand and Hartley in the competition for wine aunt of the year." May shook her head, sighing, "You'll do good." Maria told her softly as they watched Coulson with Sasha.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

May wasn't sure what to expect out of a 7 hour plane journey with 20 baby assassins, but they certainly didn't disappoint. The original hope had been that they'd fall asleep in the first hour. That dream died when Nat found 5 of them crawling through the vents, saying they were playing hide n seek. Coulson found at least 2 girls 'guarding' each door, and May found the kitchen in flames because 'we wanted to see what would happen.' That was within the first hour. 

6 hours of chaos followed. They all seemed happy enough, other than none of them trusting Coulson apart from Sasha and the odd freak out over their collective year of trauma. They were okay though, and there wasn't _significant_ damage done to the plane, so May counted it as a complete win. 

They landed at The Prep at about 4am UK time, 11pm EST, everyone both exhausted and overly excited. Most of the adoptive families were waiting for them on the lawn, they'd taken a different plane, although they'd already met their kid(s). May figured 20 assassins and at least 10 ex S.H.I.E.L.D. agents _and_ Natasha's family would be unmanageable. She was right. 

Sasha sat happily on Natasha’s hip whilst they coordinated everyone, sorting girls into cars with families, a couple of tearful goodbyes, followed by May pointing out that they’d see each other for training on Monday, Ruby and Scarlett insisting that Sasha read Steve and Bucky’s minds before they left with them, everyone happy enough with what she found. 

Eventually, it was just May, Coulson, Natasha, and a barely awake Sasha left on the lawn, May looking around The Prep wistfully. 

“It’s been a while.” Phil said quietly, joining her as they looked around. 

“It has.” May replied softly, looking at the spot where not 5 years ago her daughter cried for Jemma, her daughter joined The Cavalry. Sasha tugged at Natasha’s arm, wanting to be let down so she could see in their heads. Nat shook her head.

“They’re sad, malysh.” Nat told her softly. 

“Why?” Sasha whined, not used to not knowing.

“Some bad things happened.” Nat told her vaguely, her heart heavy. She hadn’t known Daisy then, or Jemma, but she knew how it affected May and Coulson. 

“Jemma.” Sasha said as she searched Nat’s head for answers. Nat sighed.

“Yeah. She was hurt.” That was all she offered, Sasha grumbling to herself as they watched them look around, Coulson looping an arm around May’s waist.

“What was it like?” He asked her quietly. May shook her head.

“She was in pieces. Simmons’ blood all over her, crying about how many people she killed. Almost took out the medics when they tried to take her away.” May mused, looking over to Sasha and Nat.

“She’s come a long way.” He said, thinking about the summer afterwards.

“She has.” May agreed, her thoughts turning to Sasha. “We’re _retiring_ , Phil.” She looked at him, “We’re moving to the Scottish suburbs.” She laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

“ _I’m_ not retiring!” He protested.

“Well sure, neither am I, technically, but there’s not gonna be anymore stitching me up after missions, or drinks with Hand and Izzie at The Triskelion.” She pointed out. He nodded.

“I know. There’ll be other things though. We’ll be alright, with her.” He assured her, planting a kiss on her head.

“I’ll _miss_ it.” May sighed. Phil nodded.

“So will I. New adventures, right?” He asked. May nodded.

“New adventures.”


	3. Family

May drove them to the house S.H.I.E.L.D. had issued them, a safehouse, she assumed. It was in the suburbs of Edinburgh, not 30 minutes away from The Prep. They’d have to go shopping for Sasha’s clothes and groceries in the morning, but that was a problem for tomorrow. They’d had all their stuff from their apartment at The Hub sent to their house, but it would take a while to unpack. Besides, they had next to no kids stuff. Daisy had most of hers, rather, anything she’d owned from the age of 11 was spread across 3 continents and now ‘belonged’ to one of 6 people.

Coulson carried her in from the car, Sasha muttering in her sleep as he carried her into the house, taking in the hallway. The walls were bare, stairs directly ahead of him as he entered. 

“I’ll go find a bedroom for her.” May whispered as she slid past him, closing the door behind her. Phil wandered through to the room to the left, finding a neat little living room, two sofas, TV, bookshelf. Everything was bare, no blankets, or pictures, but it was a start. 

He laid her down on the sofa, taking off his jacket and covering her with it, smiling down at her. 

“Stop thinking.” Sasha grumbled as she rolled over. “It’s loud. ‘nd annoying.” She sighed as he left, sinking into a hesitant sleep, murmured voices and the sounds of rain still chasing her.

She felt herself be picked up again, but was too tired to open her eyes. The thoughts were familiar, too green to be Phil’s.

“Minda.” She muttered as she felt May carry her upstairs. 

“Shhh, I got you, qînai de.” May told her, Sasha wrapping her tiny arms around her neck, burying her face in May’s neck. Coulson got the door to her bedroom so May could set her down on the bed, slipping her shoes off before tucking her in. 

“Spokoynoy nochi, malysh.” May kissed her forehead, slipping out of the room, closing the door behind her. She sunk into Phil’s arms as he stood there, sighing heavily as he closed his arms around her. 

“She’s a sweetheart.” Phil agreed, making May smile. 

“Told you,  _ shǎ lǎotóu _ .” May teased, looking up at him. 

“Haven’t heard that for a while.” Phil raised an eyebrow. May smirked.

“Can’t wait til Sash picks up on it.” She winked as she pulled away from him, making her way to their bedroom. 

They’d had a lot of beds together in their years of marriage. They’d never really had one that was theirs though. They’d never had their home, May and Coulson’s place, a place to come home to. They’d been each other’s home, they’d been where they belonged. Now they had a house, somewhere to build something, something beautiful, something that was theirs. 

“Hey, what’s the time?” Phil asked as he started untying his tie, May pulling off her jacket. 

She checked her phone, groaning at the numbers. 

“4:45. Tai chi in 15.” She sighed, sitting on the bed with a huff.

“You could just not? We haven’t slept since... It’s been a while.” He complained. 

“You sleep. I’ll shower. Well, I’ll unpack, then shower, then tea, then tai chi.” She compensated, leaving him alone. 

* * *

“Morning.” May said lightly as he walked into the living room, the room still eerily bare. 

“Time?” He asked, flopping down next to her.

“10 ish. Sasha awake?” She asked, hoping her tone didn’t betray her anxiety.

“I haven’t seen her. She had a big couple of days, I’ll check in a half hour.” He decided. May nodded, sipping her tea.

“Feels weird.” She sighed as she scrolled aimlessly through her phone, “Nowhere to rush to, nothing urgent. No one’s life is in danger, Daisy’s fine, we’re fine, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fine.” She listed, looking around.

“What I’m hearing is that we’ve been in one place for all of 6 hours and you’re already stir crazy.” He raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes.

“No. Free weekends will take some getting used to though. And also the child that we adopted yesterday.” Phil sucked in a breath.

“Free weekends.” He sighed, looking at the ceiling. “I don’t like it.” May sighed.

“Yeah. Me neither.” She scrunched her nose as she looked at him, “Maybe raising an assassin won’t be the hardest thing about this.” She contemplated. He nodded.

“We’ve raised a kid, we know what to do with a 6 year old. Domestic life has never quite been either of our fortes.” He looked around the room, “And this still feels like a safe house.” 

“I was going to wait for you two to decorate. Family stuff.” She said slightly bashfully, rolling her eyes at his expression, “Hey, just cos we’re ‘retired’ doesn’t mean I can’t still kick your ass.” 

“Hey, I didn’t say anything.” He shrugged.

“Yeah, let’s keep it that way.” She started to tease, trailing off as she felt a familiar presence. She sighed.

“You can come in, Sasha.” She turned to look at her, softening at how scared she looked.

“I-I didn’t know if it w-was okay.” She looked down.

“It’s always gonna be okay, kid.” Phil assured her, gesturing for her to hop up on the couch next to them. She smiled shyly, climbing up in between them and crossing her legs, Phil properly seeing how tiny she was.

“So, what’s the plan?” May asked as she sat back against the sofa, tucking her phone in her pocket.

“I’ll see what I can wrangle for breakfast, then I’ll shower, we’ll dig through the boxes, see if we can find something for us two to wear, then head out?” Coulson offered, May nodding. “Sasha, is that okay?” He asked. She shrugged.

“Esli ne khochesh', mozhesh' skazat' nam.” ( If you don’t want to you can tell us.) May told her softly. Sasha shook her head.

“It’s f-fine.” May gave her a Mom Look ™️. Sasha fidgeted slightly.

“I d-don’t l-like b-busy places. T-too many th-thou- t-too many thoughts.” She blinked, looking at May anxiously.

“That’s okay. We can shop online, you try on some of Daisy's old stuff so we can figure out your size." May suggested, before adding, "It's okay to tell us if you don't want to do something." She told her softly. Sasha nodded slowly. 

"I k-know. You're n-not like him.". She said confidently, looking up at Phil. "Y-you're different." Phil looked over at May, who was basically glowing. 

"I am?" He asked proudly.

"Th-the oth- oth, the others were bad. You're not." She nodded. She heard May's mind instantly jump to what she meant by bad and shook her head. 

"I'm not asking, you'll tell us if you want." May confirmed, noticing how her body language tensed. 

"Okay." Sasha nodded, "Y-you're not b-bad." She told Phil again. 

"I'm glad you think so. You wanna know what May's bad at?" He asked her, making Melinda frown. Sasha's eyes widened.

"What?" She asked.

"Cooking. Awful at it. And we need breakfast, so what do you say you come help me find some stuff?" He asked, standing up and offering her his hand. She beamed, taking it and following him through to the kitchen, leaving a rather offended Melinda May behind. 

"Now, in places like these you can usually find some cereal, maybe some fried fruit. You go look in the pantry, I'll check the cupboard." He turned around to open the door, noticing she hasn't moved. "You okay?" He asked. 

"What's a p-pantry?" She asked nervously, looking around the kitchen. Phil frowned.

"I don't know? It's like a cupboard, I suppose. It's over there." He gestured to a door. Sasha opened it, poking her head around the door before closing it again.

"D-dark." She looked up at him, slightly annoyed as he thought about how cute she was. "No." She looked up at him grumpily.

"No what?" He laughed.

"Not c-cute. Or baby. Or s-sweetheart o-or honey or bunny." She looked up at him from her mighty height of three feet, shooting him a withering glare.

"Okay. Not any of those. What're you?" He asked her as he tootled around in the pantry.

"Not th-that." She said simply, taking a box as he handed it to her, "Th-That's what- That's what the bad m-men call us." She said quietly, making him turn around, noting how he ignored the overwhelming urge to ask her more.

"That's okay. What about Sash? Lexi?" He offered. She scrunched her nose up.

"My name?" She suggested. 

"See I like you. And I can call you Sasha, sure, but when I like people I give them nicknames. You know, Iike how I call Melinda 'Mel', or Natasha 'Tasha', or 'Nat'. Or Daisy 'Dee'." He explained, "So what're you okay with and what are your red cards?" He asked. She sighed.

"I'm not American." She told him. 

"Okay..."

"Red c-cards?"

"Right. It's a soccer thing, red card is a no-no, bad word, can't call you that." He told her, passing her another box. Sasha thought for a second.

"You c-can call m-me S-Sasha. Sash is okay. N-not Leksi, that's s-silly. Y-you want to call m-me sweetheart. Don't." She advised. 

"Okay. I can do that." He agreed, offering her his hand. She shook it, nodding determinedly.

"What d-do I c-call you?" She asked him as she sat on the floor, watching him search for crockery and cutlery.

"Coulson. Phil. Whatever." He shrugged.

"AC." Sasha decided. He pulled a face.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Agent Coulson." 

"Air conditioner." He pointed out. 

"Whatever." She said mildly, turning around as May came in.

"Cap'n Crunch or Fruit loops?" He offered her, holding up two boxes. May scoffed.

"Hard pass." 

"Why am I not surprised." He said dryly, turning to Sasha. "Cap'n Crunch or Fruit Loops?" He held them both up.

"Americans." She scoffed.

"Just try them." He egged her, pouring a bowl of Cap'n Crunch for himself. "It might be your last opportunity, Mel may never buy them again." He nodded to May who was perched on a counter. She just nodded in agreement.

"No breakfast needs that much sugar." 

"Not everyone eats smoothie bowls for breakfast." He rolled his eyes.

"C-can I try b-both?" She asked. 

"Of course." He nodded, getting an extra bowl and pouring her a little in each. They'd basically been starved in the Red Room, they couldn't give her loads at once or she'd be sick, much as they both wanted to feed her a good proper meal. 

"No milk?" May asked as she peered over.

"Nope." Phil said as he ate his dry cereal. Sasha took a hesitant mouthful of the Fruit Loops, pulling a face at the flavors. After a year of basically nothing but stale bread, nothing quite matched true American artificial flavouring.

"What'd you think?" Phil asked excitedly. Sasha opened and closed her mouth a few times, testing out the dry texture.

"Mlem." She said as it stuck to her tongue. May laughed at her, Phil smiling awkwardly as she tried the taste out on her tongue. "Water." She pulled a face, shaking her head. Phil handed her a glass of water from the sink, watching as she downed it in less than 10 seconds. 

"Fruit Loops is not good." She concluded as she wiped her mouth.

"Good girl." May nodded, winking at her. Sasha recoiled. 

"Not th-that ei-eith- Not that either." She told Phil as she pulled a face, hearing all his alarm bells go off, not looking at him as he did nothing. 

"That's okay." He nodded. May looked between them in confusion.

"Did I miss something?" Sasha sighed.

"He can't c-call me th-that." Sasha said as she picked at her skin. 

"I can?" Sasha shrugged.

"Remember what I said about it being okay to not want things?" May prompted gently. Sasha nodded.

"D-don't call me th-that." She asked quietly. 

"Okay. Thank you for telling us." May nodded, Sasha expecting anger or fear from her, not picking up on any thoughts other than the same confusion she found with AC. She'd tell them. In time. 

"Do you have anything th-that's not th-this?" Sasha asked Phil, nodding to her food. He grinned.

"Probably." He nodded, searching until he found a tin of canned peaches, holding them up in question.

"I'll have some of those." May looked up, "I'll go shopping later." She decided. 

"Sash?" Phil asked as he searched for a can opener,

"Yas p-please." She nodded, standing up to try and hoist herself into the counter next to May. She struggled for a few seconds, hopping up neatly as she pulled herself up with her arms.

"If she falls it's on you." Phil told May as he got peaches for them.

"I won't!" Sasha protested. 

"Shǎ lǎotóu." May tutted. Coulson glared at her as Sasha echoed her.

"Silly old man." She giggled as she figured it out, May's mind jumping to an 11 year old Daisy.

"Who's F-Fitz?" Sasha frowned as May thought of that day. 

"Jemma's sort of brother." May filled in for her, thinking about when she'd seen him a couple days ago. Sasha gasped in delight as she found H.E.N.R.Y., the holographic monkey Fitz had built himself a few years ago.

"What's that?" May asked her. 

"Happy H.E.N.R.Y." Sasha giggled. May nodded.

"Hey, we could probably get Fitzsimmons to install it here." Coulson pointed out as he handed them both bowls and spoons.

"Fitzsi- Fitzsimmons." Sasha said slowly, the word jumbling around in her mind.

"Science duo." May nodded. 

"Daisy's compsci." Phil pointed out, but neither of them looked very impressed with that. 

"Fitzsimmons." Sasha sounded out again. May thought of the two of them, of Daisy, how worried he’d been when they got back, Jemma’s-  _ no _ , May shook her head of the thoughts, Sasha pouting at her.

“Ask them yourself.” May told her. Sasha whined.

“I d-don’t like not kn-knowing.” She complained. May shrugged.

“Not my story to tell.” Sasha sighed heavily,

“How’d y-you do th-that? B-block me out?” She asked, swinging her legs as she nibbled on a peach.   
  


“Just stopped thinking. Tai chi.” May told her, Sasha not sure how to feel. 

“Th-think again?” She asked, not used to being with two people and only hearing one voice. May let her mind wander from the point she was focused on, looking over to Phil and smiling softly. Sasha turned to look at him, leaning against the counter, smirk painted across his lips. 

“Hate-fu.” Sasha whispered as someone thought it. Phil burst out laughing, May just rolled her eyes. “Who’s that?” She frowned as Phil kept laughing.

“Hill and Daisy.” May said dryly, rolling her eyes at her husband, “Never let it go after that.” Sasha kept swinging her legs, rootling through Phil’s head happily, Phil sitting slightly uncomfortably as he could feel it.

“What ya lookin’ for?” He asked. Sasha shrugged.

“Nothing. Just f-fun.” She smiled slightly, leaving him alone. He sighed.

“How does it feel?” May asked. Sasha scrunched her nose.

“Minds are l-like m-mazes. Th-there’s a w-way in, and it’s hard t- it’s hard to get out of. You can choose wh-whether or not to take a path, and no two are the same.” She tilted her head as her legs kept swinging, taking another bite of her peach. 

“Can you tell what a person is like based on what you find?” Phil pushed. Sasha nodded, humming in agreement.

“I would not have c-come with- come with you if I couldn’t.” She reasoned.

“Can you let other people see your mind?” May asked. Sasha froze. 

“Th-that’s b-ba- that’s bad.” She muttered, shaking her head, wishing Coulson would stop thinking so fast.

“But you can?” May asked her gently. Sasha whimpered, shaking her head again.

“B-ba- it’s bad, I’m bad.” She shook her head again, trembling as she remembered. May took a deep breath, hopping off the counter and standing in front of her.

“Dyshi so mnoy, Sasha.” (Breathe with me, Sasha) She said calmly, offering her hands. Sasha nodded, taking them as she reigned her own thoughts in, feeling them spin out of control, someone shouting at her to stop, to stop looking, or listening, or hearing, or reading, or whatever the  _ fuck _ was wrong with her, telling her to be normal, and quiet, and neat, and pretty, telling her to stay still, keep her thoughts to herself, keep everyone’s thoughts to herself. 

May ignored the voices as they screamed at them both, seeing a tiny snippet of her mind, of screaming girls, blood, dark rooms, damp smells. She pushed it down, knowing her fear would scare her more.

“Poslushay menya, pozhaluysta.” (Listen to me, please) May asked, blinking away the thoughts that were attacking them. Sasha’s eyes filled with tears.

“Mne zhal'.” (I’m sorry) She whispered as everything spiralled, as she drowned, “Mne zhal', mne zhal', mne zhal'.” Her voice broke as tears slipped out, fear overloading her system as she shook, her eyes wide.

“Ty v poryadke, obeshchayu, no tebe nuzhno dyshat', ladno?” (You’re okay, I promise, but you  _ need _ to  _ breathe _ , okay?) May ordered, gripping her hands. Sasha nodded tearily, gasping with every breath. May had a sudden thought, a 16 year old Daisy going through the same thing.

“Hey, count with me, yeah?” She asked softly, starting at one. Sasha joined in shakily, May letting her slip back into Russian, counting slowly with her, switching to Mandarin, then back to English. May felt Sasha’s thoughts recede into her own head, melting back into place. 

“Mne zhal’.” She muttered as she sniffled, wiping her eyes, flinching away when May moved her hand away.

“I’m never going to hurt you, okay?” May told her seriously, still shaken from what she’d seen.

“I kn-know.” Sasha nodded, her heart still racing. “I’m s-sor- I’m sorry.” She looked down as May saw it again, her memories racing through an unfamiliar mind. 

“I’m okay.” She assured her, looking over at Phil who’d been watching the whole thing with raised hands.

“Hey, I’m good.” He shrugged as the both looked at him expectantly, “Water?” He offered Sasha her old cup. She took it shakily, gulping the water down as she heard them both panicking and asking a million questions, as well as guilt from both of them, knowing she could hear them.

“Later. Rest now.” She said, hopping off the counter and giving them both minor heart attacks. She smirked, “You g-guys know I’m an ass- ass- I’m an assass-" She sighed, gesturing for them to help.

“Assassin.” May prompted, “Tiny baby assassin, but assassin all the same.” She compensated. Sasha rolled her eyes, but didn’t correct her.

“So, what’d you wanna do?” May asked, realizing neither of them had taken care of a 6 year old for over 2 decades.

“D-d-decorate?” Sasha looked at Phil in confusion as he had the thought.

“Well, we still have a lot of unpacking to do, and the place looks kinda bare. Figured we could put up some pictures, photos, sort out the TV, get some blankets.” He suggested. Sasha nodded, wandering through to the living room.

“Okay, how about I go out for groceries, whilst you two unpack. Then maybe you can try on some clothes, because much as I love the whole oversized t-shirt look you got going on, we can do better.” May ran through the plan. Sasha nodded.

“Super.” Phil beamed, before looking at the clock. “We should probably order lunch.” He nodded to the clock reading 12. 

“Sounds about right.”

They set to work, Phil ordered the pizza and then got to helping the other two unpack. Sasha took things out of their boxes and gave them to May and Coulson to put away. There was all sorts, clothes, blankets, beddings, photo albums, books, school reports, DVDs, even a vinyl player. They took a pizza break and got back to work, Sasha slightly surprised by how little they had, even still it was interesting to see what they were like.

Coulson had a lot of Avengers things, even a fake Captain America shield. He had blankets and antique spy gear (Sasha almost broke his original 1946 Spy Pen), lots of T-Shirts amongst the suits. 

May was different. She had a lot of dark clothes, and loads of photos. Sasha looks at them in curiosity, reading the dates on the back, ‘Christmas party ‘09’, or ‘D.E.L.T.A.’s first Halloween’. A few were framed, pictures of adults who she assumed to be May’s S.T.R.I.K.E. team, a woman she recognised as Bobbi Morse from Nat’s head grinning in the centre. There was one of two girls, not much older than Sasha, who she recognised as Daisy and Jemma, as well as one of May, Phil, Daisy and Hill all together. 

“You alright?” Phil asked her quietly as he crouched behind her. 

“Family.” She just said, looking down at the photo and back up at him.

“That’s some of my family, yeah. You’re a part of that too, if you want to be.” He told her softly, watching as she smiled sadly.

“I want to be.” She nodded. Her face didn’t light up the way he’d become slightly familiar with. “My old family are gone.” She whispered. His heart broke for her.

“They are. We’re not trying to replace them though, okay? We just want to take care of you, that’s what they would’ve wanted.” He told her firmly, hoping she knew that he wasn’t trying to fill a gap that he knew he never could, before realising that of course she knew that, she could read his mind. Sasha smiled at his higgledy-piggledy thought process.

“I know.” She nodded, handing him the photo. “And I d-don’t read m-minds, I can just s-see inside th-them.” She reminded him. He nodded.

“Of course. My mistake.” He corrected himself. “Hey, I think the only box left is Daisy’s old stuff. What’d you say you try some on?” He suggested. Sasha nodded, rootling through the box with him until they found the extent of Daisy’s kid clothes. Two t-shirts and three pairs of leggings.

“4-5 and 5-6.” Phil read out as he inspected the t-shirts, handing her the bigger one. She took it, waiting for the leggings before practically skipping off to the bathroom the change. She came back in wearing a t-shirt that fit perfectly (however Vidia the fairy didn’t quite suit her), and leggings that had to be an inch too short.

“So, we’ll say 4-5 for shirts, 5-6 for leggings?” He suggested as he looked at her. She nodded. 

“Come here and we’ll find some stuff online for you.” He gestured to the patch of floor next to him as he pulled out his laptop, Melinda busy ordering their groceries. She found a zebra jumper that she loved, so he added a giraffe one as well. She chose herself a blue dinosaur t-shirt after hearing how much Phil liked it, as well as a white polka dotted one. She found some yellow striped shirts, before moving onto trousers.

She’d never been a fan of skirts, so she found a multi-pack of 6 different coloured joggers and called it a day, Phil adding some underwear for her. 

“You’ll need to try on any shoes.” He decided as he clicked buy, the computer kindly telling him that his delivery would arrive tomorrow.

“Okay.” She nodded as she heard May coming downstairs, turning as she entered the room.

“All good?” She asked. They both nodded, so she smiled, sitting on the opposite side of Sasha to Phil.

“I’m glad you f-found m-me.” Sasha told them both quietly. May smiled, and Sasha felt her warm up inside, so she took her thumb, clenching it and smiling shyly up at her.

“I’m glad we found you too.” Phil agreed, looking at his girls with pride. Sasha sighed contentedly, somehow knowing that she’d never forget, but she could move on.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)


End file.
